Dallas at New Orleans (February 2)
After a tough game vs Miami, Dallas found themselves in New Orleans the next
night vs one of the worst teams in the league. Dallas didn't slack off
early and came out strong in scoring the first 6 points of the game as New
Orleans missed their first 5 shots. The Hornets finally got on the board on
a 3-pointer by Dan Dickau with 8:55 remaining. Dallas led 13-8 with 5:50 to
go and went on a 10-2 run to go up 23-10 with 2:40 left. The teams traded
buckets and New Orleans scored the last 5 points of the quarter. Dallas led
25-17 after 1. New Orleans only shot 6-23 FG in the quarter. Dallas scored
the first 6 points of the 2nd quarter to go up 32-17 with 10:30 to go. A
3-pointer by Jason Terry gave Dallas a 37-24 lead with 8:15 left, but New
Orleans scored the next 7 points, capped by a 3-pointer by Dickau, to pull
within 31-37 with 7 minutes remaining. Dallas answered by scoring the next
6 points to go up 43-31 with 5:20 left and the Mavs' lead remained in
double-digits the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 54-40 at the half.
Dallas shot 51.4% FG and New Orleans shot 37.5% FG. Dallas scored the first
7 points of the 3rd quarter, capped by a 3-point play by Dirk Nowitzki, to
take their largest lead at 61-40 with 10:30 remaining. Dallas led in the
high teens the next 7 minutes. New Orleans did make an 8-2 mini-run to pull
within 62-73 with 45 seconds to go. Jerry Stackhouse scored the next 4
points, but New Orleans made the full court pass to Chris Anderson under the
basket and he got the layup shortly before the quarter ended. Dallas led
77-64 after 3. Nowitzki opened the 4th quarter with a jumper and the Mavs
stayed in control for most of the 4th as twice New Orleans pulled within 13
points and both times Dallas answered with a bucket on the Mavs' next
possession and the Hornets would get no closer until near the end. Dallas
led 90-72 with 5:10 to go and it was an ugly finish as the Mavs would not
score again in missing their last 8 shots, but had enough of a cushion to
get the win. New Orleans scored the last 10 points of the game. Dallas won
90-82.
It definitely wasn't a pretty game and Dallas was never able to truly pull
away, but there was also never the impression that New Orleans had a chance
to win. The 4th quarter was really ugly as Dallas shot 6-18 FG and New
Orleans shot 5-18 FG and the teams combined to turn the ball over 9 times.
For the game, Dallas shot 45.1% (32-71) FG including 3-8 3-pointers and New
Orleans shot 38.7% (29-75) FG including 4-13 3-pointers. New Orleans never
led in the game and Dallas' largest lead was 21 points. It was Dallas' 11th
straight win over the Hornets, with the Hornets' last win vs Dallas coming
in November 1999.
For the 2nd straight game, Dallas had no single dominant performance as a
number of players contributed (though not spectacularly in this ho-hum
game). Dirk Nowitzki was the high man with 20 points, but didn't have his
shooting touch in shooting 7-21 FG. He also had 5 rebounds. Jerry
Stackhouse had another good outing with 19 points. Erick Dampier had his
3rd straight double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Michael Finley
was the 4th Mav in double-digits with 12 points, 7 of which came in the 1st
quarter. Jason Terry had 6 points to go with his team high 7 assists. Josh
Howard struggled all game with a sore wrist, which he injured in the Miami
game, and foul trouble and had just 4 points and 1 rebound in a mere 14
minutes. Devin Harris had a nice game with 12 points including 4-6 FG, 4
assists, and 3 steals in 20 minutes. He had one of his awesome one-hand
dunks that again was #1 on NBATV's Top 10 Plays of the Day. Alan Henderson
played well and had 6 points on 3-3 FG and 6 rebounds including 3 offensive
in 17 minutes.
New Orleans didn't have much besides Dan Dickau. Dickau led the way with 18
points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. The next high scorer was Jackson Vroman
with 11 points - all in the 4th quarter. Vroman also had 5 rebounds. Chris
Andersen had 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Casey Jacobsen had 10
points. P.J. Brown never got going in shooting just 2-8 FG. He had 6
points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Quotes
Avery Johnson: "I'm really proud of our team tonight. It's a tough
back-to-back situation, which we don't make excuses for, but they battled
and battled. At the same time, you guys can write something good about
what Byron Scott is doing with this team because he's really doing a good
job, depleted as they are. And to have this team playing as hard as
they're playing right now, you've got to really tip your hat to what they
are doing here because this was a tough game for us to win."
Johnson: "We had the slipsies, you know, if that's a word, in the 4th
quarter. The ball was just flying out of our hands. I just think we were
just wiped out. You know Dirk hasn't really been himself since he was
sick. I think a good day of rest tomorrow after we practice for about 3
hours will be just what the doctor ordered."
Johnson: "Dampier is really coming on for us. He's just keeping it really
simple. He's doing basically what we brought him to do. I think he was a
little fatigued, you know, banging against Shaq and Eddie Jones and Wade
last night and then have to come here ... that would take a lot out of
anybody."
Johnson on Stackhouse's recent good play: "It's not so much [that he's]
ahead of anybody. If somebody has the hot night, it may be that
particular guy. But I think all really good teams kind of establish who
their 1-2 punch is. And we may have a 1-2-2-2 punch. At least I know
some semblance of what works and what doesn't work."
Johnson on Finley not playing much in the recent 4th quarters: "Right now,
they're all just about winning. It's not really about pride or anybody
getting slighted."
Dirk Nowitzki on a possible letdown vs New Orleans: "We talked about not
letting it happen."
Nowitzki on his health: "Actually, I felt a 100% better than last night.
It was almost to the point where I wasn't going to play [against Miami].
But today I felt good. I got a lot of sleep last night. My jump shot was
off, but Friday we've got to take our game to another level."
Michael Finley: "We seem to match up with them well. Offensively, we seem
to get things clicking. That's no knock on their personnel, because it's
changed. Whenever we do play them, we hit them at a time when we're
playing great basketball."
Finley: "We've been in this position before and let one slip away. I
didn't like the way we finished, but I liked that we got the win."
Jerry Stackhouse: "It was a grind of a game. We thought we had control of
the game the whole time. It's a tough team to just keep down, when a team
is down 20 they are going to take some chances and they are going to make
some shots. Their team is no different. I thought we did some good things
for the most part. We wanted to get a good lead to make sure we had some
cushion. The memo after the game is that we need to keep teams like that
down, and finish the game off stronger. Everybody's played and that's how
the rhythm of the games go and we got the win after coming off a real
emotional win last night."
Stackhouse: "We thought we had control of all the game. It was just
inevitable we were going to have somewhat of a letdown, but I thought we
did a good job of not doing that when it mattered."
Stackhouse: "I feel cool. It's been a great experience for me, to be on a
team that really has a chance to go far and play for a championship. The
longer I've been here, I've been able to adjust even more to my role and
to what we're doing."
Erick Dampier: "I'm out there playing, trying to get myself into the flow
of the game, get shots, work at both ends and try to make the best of
every opportunity I get. Guys are looking for me when I'm coming down the
floor. I'm just going out to get position and trying to be a presence
inside."
Jason Terry to Dampier (O'Neal called Damp "soft" after the Miami game):
"I like it when you play soft."
Dampier responded: "If soft is a double-double every night, call it
whatever you want."
Darrell Armstrong on his return visit to his former team: "It's good to
see my old teammates. But I really haven't thought about it a lot, but
I'm in a great situation here with the Mavericks, and the Hornets got a
good player in Dan."
Byron Scott: "Against a team like that, if you don't match them basket for
basket, you're going to be in trouble."
Scott on subbing in Lynch (who hadn't played in the previous 10 games)
instead of Nachbar: "The last 4 or 5 games with Boki, I really don't
think he's been playing the way he's capable of. He's just not playing
well. I don't know for what reason. George has been here for a while,
and after practice, I thought he was ready to get back in there."
Scott on the upcoming roadtrip: "It's a good time for us right now. I
think we have had some success at home. We've had some slippage the last
couple of games at home and this might be the perfect time to get away and
for us to all be together as a team, to get to know each other a little
more. When you are at home you are in a comfort level, you are in a comfort
zone. I'm looking forward to going out tomorrow and getting these games
under our belts Friday and Saturday."
Scott on how Vroman will help the team: "His energy, the way he plays. He
runs the floor extremely well. He goes to the boards and is not a bad
defender. I think he is a guy that can come off the bench and
[contribute]. A little bit like Bird [Andersen]. He's an energy type
player. He can help you in that department."
P.J. Brown: "Tonight we didn't come out with the type of energy we've had
the last few games at home. Our defense was definitely soft. We were not
as intense on defense as we had been. Defense sets the tone. We're
starting to let teams shoot it again. Dallas had a 50% half. When we
start playing good defense again, we'll play better."
Brown: "[Dallas] has our number. I don't know what it is. They have a
lot of great shooters on the perimeter. Defensively, I don't think we're
physical enough with them. You have to set the tone early with them
defensively and try to get them out of their rhythm."
Dan Dickau: "We kept playing hard the whole game. We didn't shoot the
ball very well. Dallas has so many weapons. The first time down, they
get dribble penetration and sucked everyone in. Then they make good
decisions. It's not always the first penetration that leads to baskets.
It's the second and third penetrations. They're always drive-and-kick.
They have guys that like to get into the lane."
Dickau: "They had us on our heels since early in the game. We hung in
there and kept playing hard, but we didn't shoot the ball very well at all
tonight. We had been shooting a lot better than that recently. But on
the other side, they've got so many weapons. The first time they get
dribble penetration, we get sucked in and they make good decisions, take
the ball back out. And if the next guy doesn't take the shot, they're
going to take it right back into the paint again."
Dallas Mavericks 90, New Orleans Hornets at New Orleans (February 2)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT%
Dallas 25 29 23 13 - 90 .460 .375 .451 .821
New Orleans 17 23 24 18 - 82 .403 .308 .387 .769
Halftime: Dallas 54-40
3rd Q: Dallas 77-64
Technicals: Lee Nailon 1:33 2nd
Refs: Tony Brothers, Ken Mauer, Jason Phillips
Attendance: 11,094 (cap 17,200)
Dallas Mavericks REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Michael Finley 38 5-13 0-1 2-3 12 2-4 2 1 4 1 0
Jason Terry 29 2-5 1-3 1-2 6 0-3 7 2 2 0 0
Dirk Nowitzki 39 7-21 1-2 5-5 20 0-5 2 4 3 1 2
Josh Howard 14 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-1 0 0 5 0 2
Erick Dampier 31 3-5 0-0 5-6 11 3-14 1 0 2 0 2
Jerry Stackhouse 33 6-11 0-0 7-8 19 1-2 1 3 1 1 0
Devin Harris 20 4-6 1-2 3-4 12 0-1 4 1 3 3 0
Alan Henderson 17 3-3 0-0 0-0 6 3-6 1 0 2 1 0
Marquis Daniels 16 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 3 1 1 1 0
Shawn Bradley 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 48 32-71 3-8 23-28 90 9-36 21 13 24 8 6
New Orleans Hornets REB
Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Dan Dickau 36 7-12 2-4 2-2 18 0-3 3 0 3 2 0
J.R. Smith 27 4-11 0-3 1-1 9 0-0 1 3 5 2 0
Lee Nailon 20 3-10 0-0 1-2 7 4-5 0 2 2 0 0
Rodney Rogers 15 1-6 0-1 0-0 2 1-3 2 3 4 0 0
P.J. Brown 35 2-8 0-0 2-2 6 3-12 4 0 3 2 0
Casey Jacobsen 32 2-7 2-4 4-4 10 0-1 3 1 1 1 0
Chris Andersen 31 4-9 0-0 2-3 10 3-9 2 2 1 0 5
George Lynch 25 2-3 0-0 1-2 5 1-3 2 1 1 0 0
Jackson Vroman 12 3-7 0-0 5-6 11 3-5 0 3 2 1 1
Maciej Lampe 3 1-1 0-0 0-2 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Bostjan Nachbar 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 1 0 0 0 0
Junior Harrington 1 0-1 0-1 2-2 2 0-1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 48 29-75 4-13 20-26 82 15-46 18 15 22 8 6
patricia